(134340) Pluto
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase
Today9 Jul 202515.035.300 AU34.323 AU20h23m-23°12'163.7°0.5°
Opposition24 Jul 202515.035.311 AU34.297 AU20h21m-23°18'176.2°0.1°
(134340) Pluto - 2025-07-09
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Pluto are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2467311
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 39.3621595
            i (Inclination)                 : 17.17189
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 110.33331
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 113.37788
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 52.17719
            Epoch                           : 2025 May 05

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 44.67764
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 15.72393
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 246.96            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.


The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.





The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.




Ephemerides:
Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-07-09 00:00 UT   20 23 12.9   -23 12 10    34.323   35.300  163.7    0.5   269   15.0 
2025-07-09 03:47 UT   20 23 12.0   -23 12 14    34.323   35.301  163.8    0.5   270   15.0 
2025-07-10 00:00 UT   20 23 07.3   -23 12 35    34.320   35.301  164.6    0.4   270   15.0 
2025-07-11 00:00 UT   20 23 01.6   -23 13 01    34.316   35.302  165.6    0.4   271   15.0 
2025-07-12 00:00 UT   20 22 56.0   -23 13 26    34.313   35.302  166.5    0.4   272   15.0 
2025-07-13 00:00 UT   20 22 50.3   -23 13 52    34.310   35.303  167.4    0.4   274   15.0 
2025-07-14 00:00 UT   20 22 44.5   -23 14 17    34.308   35.304  168.4    0.3   275   15.0 
2025-07-15 00:00 UT   20 22 38.8   -23 14 43    34.305   35.305  169.3    0.3   277   15.0 
2025-07-16 00:00 UT   20 22 33.0   -23 15 08    34.303   35.305  170.2    0.3   279   15.0 
2025-07-17 00:00 UT   20 22 27.2   -23 15 33    34.301   35.306  171.1    0.3   281   15.0 
2025-07-18 00:00 UT   20 22 21.4   -23 15 59    34.300   35.307  172.0    0.2   284   15.0 
2025-07-19 00:00 UT   20 22 15.6   -23 16 24    34.299   35.307  172.8    0.2   288   15.0 
2025-07-20 00:00 UT   20 22 09.7   -23 16 49    34.298   35.308  173.6    0.2   293   15.0 
2025-07-21 00:00 UT   20 22 03.8   -23 17 14    34.297   35.309  174.4    0.2   298   15.0 
2025-07-22 00:00 UT   20 21 58.0   -23 17 39    34.297   35.309  175.1    0.1   306   15.0 
2025-07-23 00:00 UT   20 21 52.1   -23 18 04    34.297   35.310  175.6    0.1   316   15.0 
2025-07-24 00:00 UT   20 21 46.2   -23 18 29    34.297   35.311  176.0    0.1   328   15.0 
2025-07-25 00:00 UT   20 21 40.3   -23 18 53    34.298   35.311  176.2    0.1   343   15.0 
2025-07-26 00:00 UT   20 21 34.4   -23 19 18    34.298   35.312  176.2    0.1   358   15.0 
2025-07-27 00:00 UT   20 21 28.4   -23 19 42    34.300   35.313  175.9    0.1    11   15.0 
2025-07-28 00:00 UT   20 21 22.5   -23 20 07    34.301   35.313  175.4    0.1    22   15.0 
2025-07-29 00:00 UT   20 21 16.6   -23 20 31    34.303   35.314  174.8    0.2    31   15.0 
2025-07-30 00:00 UT   20 21 10.7   -23 20 55    34.305   35.315  174.0    0.2    38   15.0 
2025-07-31 00:00 UT   20 21 04.9   -23 21 18    34.307   35.316  173.2    0.2    43   15.0 
2025-08-01 00:00 UT   20 20 59.0   -23 21 42    34.310   35.316  172.4    0.2    47   15.0 
2025-08-02 00:00 UT   20 20 53.1   -23 22 06    34.313   35.317  171.5    0.2    50   15.0 
2025-08-03 00:00 UT   20 20 47.3   -23 22 29    34.316   35.318  170.7    0.3    53   15.0 
2025-08-04 00:00 UT   20 20 41.4   -23 22 52    34.319   35.318  169.7    0.3    55   15.0 
2025-08-05 00:00 UT   20 20 35.6   -23 23 15    34.323   35.319  168.8    0.3    57   15.0 
2025-08-06 00:00 UT   20 20 29.9   -23 23 37    34.327   35.320  167.9    0.3    59   15.0 
2025-08-07 00:00 UT   20 20 24.1   -23 23 60    34.331   35.320  167.0    0.4    60   15.0 
2025-08-08 00:00 UT   20 20 18.3   -23 24 22    34.336   35.321  166.0    0.4    61   15.0 


    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.